


When The Walls Come Down

by bitofageek



Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Comforting Shuri, Extended Scene, Gen, Hurt Everett Ross, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 15:01:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14311257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitofageek/pseuds/bitofageek
Summary: My imagining of a missing scene, after the explosion in the lab. The timing of the movie wouldn't have worked with the extra scene but there's no way Shuri would have forgotten Ross was in danger. I'm not shipping anyone in this scene, just friends fighting for each other.





	When The Walls Come Down

Missing Scene: The Lab

COMPUTER: “Glass integrity is at 15%”

Battle continues/Ship STILL shooting glass; Ross STILL in the lab/flight seat destroys the final ship.

ROSS: “Yes! We did it!”  
SHURI: “Great, now get out of there!”

Agent Ross ran towards the exit; the blasters finally penetrated the glass, and a fireball exploded from the within the lab.

Ross made it to the other side of the central column of the lab before the explosion knocked him off his feet. He hit the floor hard and rolled, slamming into the wall, ears ringing and vision wavering. His skin felt hot, 2nd degree burns maybe, he thought fuzzily. The fire was mostly contained to the other side of the lab, but there was debris everywhere and the smoke was getting thicker. THAT was the danger. He knew from his training that most deaths from fire were caused by smoke.

Ross pulled himself up the wall and took a few unsteady steps before his legs gave out. His body wasn’t cooperating; everything hurt and felt heavy, but he knew he HAD to get out of the lab. He struggled up to his hands and knees and pulled himself toward the door. He’d been shot, climbed a mountain, and nearly blown up - he was NOT going to die from smoke inhalation.

 

With the arrival of M’Baku and the Jabari, W'Kabi surrendered to Okoye; his fighters dropped their weapons and suddenly the battle was over. Shuri had never fought so hard in her life. She and Nakia sagged in relief. Wakanda was safe!

“The vibranium shipments have been destroyed! Ross was able to stop them.” Shuri told Nakia.

Nakia nodded, “We must find T’Chala” she replied.  
“The mines!” they turned toward the launch pad/mine entrance area… and saw smoke.

“My Lab!....It was under attack!’ Shuri exclaimed, horrified “Ross!”  
Nakia and Shuri rushed to the building.

 

Ross could see the doors to the lab… so close! Only a few feet away, but he couldn’t get his body to move any faster. His head was pounding, and he wasn’t able to stop coughing. “A bit further” he repeated like a mantra, “just a bit further”. He pulled himself up, using his weight to push the door open, “why are doors so heavy” he thought to himself before collapsing across the threshold. As he fell to the floor and into darkness, he thought he heard voices calling his name… then nothing.

 

“Come on! Come on!” Shuri yelled frustratedly at the elevator! She called up the feed to the lab on her kimoyo beads. It was a shambles - debris, smoke, fire. “Damn!” Nakia looked at her worriedly “The fire suppression system was knocked offline! There’s so much smoke, I can’t see him!” She gestured furiously, rerouting damaged systems to put out the fire and clear the smoke from the area.

“Get to the lab and get him out” Nakia urged, “I’ll grab an emergency kit and be right behind you!” Finally the elevator doors opened and they sprinted down the hall. Shuri rounded the corner and saw the door partly open - and a pale hand, unmoving on the floor.

“ROSS!” She checked him quickly for neck and spinal injuries, and finding none, gently pulled him into the clean air of the hall. Though the air in the lab had begun to clear, it was not safe there and the probability that the medical equipment would be working was almost zero. Shuri found a faint pulse, but he wasn’t breathing!

“NAKIA! He needs oxygen! HURRY!” Shuri checked Ross’s airway and began rescue breathing. She could hear Nakia coming, but couldn’t wait.

“Come on, colonzier! Breathe!” One breath, then another, then another. Finally after what seemed like forever, Nakia appeared at her side with the emergency kit, handing her the oxygen mask immediately. Shuri pressed it to Ross’s nose and mouth, pumping steadily, willing him to breathe in the life-giving oxygen.  
“Ross, please breathe”. Tears threatened as she and Nakia worked to save him.  
“Everett, come back." Nakia pleaded, "Wakanda is safe. We’re safe. Everett, please!”

 

Everett Ross woke up in the lab… except it couldn’t be the lab. It was in perfect condition, brighter and shinier even than it was before the explosion. And then he looked out the window and saw… an open grassland… and sky - such a beautiful sky. He thought the view of the vibranium mine was impressive (where was it, anyway?!?), but this… this was breathtaking. He walked toward the window, longing to go beyond the walls and cross into the vista he saw just outside. But he knew somehow that this was not for him, that just seeing this place was a gift.

As he drew near the window, a huge black panther, eyes glowing with an ethereal light, leapt down from a nearby tree and walked toward the glass, looking at him quizzically. Ross, overcome with awe, reached to lay his hand against the glass as the panther approached. The panther stopped directly in front of him, looked right at him, right THROUGH him - its gaze radiating power. Suddenly Ross heard a voice, deep and thoughtful, strong and gentle at the same time, speaking in a language he KNEW he didn’t know, but somehow understood.  
“Wamkelekile, Ubhuti” ...Welcome, Brother. “Enkosi”... Thank you.

Suddenly he felt dizzy, and his chest hurt, and he thought he heard voices call his name. His hand dropped away from the glass as he clutched his chest in pain, and everything faded away.

 

Ross coughed. HARD. It hurt a lot. Everything hurt. He couldn’t think. He didn’t know where he was. But he could breathe - oh thank goodness he could breathe. His eyes fluttered open and he saw a hazy shape... a face? “Shuri” he thought. He couldn’t get the words out. She must have gotten him away from the smoke and fire to clean air and safety. “Thank you” he thought, as he drifted back into unconsciousness. “Enkosi” he whispered as his eyes closed.

Shuri and Nakia’s looked at each other in surprise as more help arrived.

 

“Well, colonizer” Shuri smirked as she checked Agent Ross’s vital signs; he rolled his eyes, “Your lungs have healed, your burns have healed. We are kicking you out of the infirmary now.”

“Finally!” Ross exclaimed. There was a lot to do now that Wakanda was going to be reaching out to the world, and Ross was going to be hip deep in managing the repercussions. He climbed off the med bed.

“Thank you again, Shuri.” his voice was deep with sincerity. So much had happened during his time in Wakanda. He felt connected to it in a way he hadn’t experienced anywhere else. He didn’t know how to put it in to words, so he tried to express it in gratitude to the people who had saved him, who he had helped, who had helped him.

“It was my pleasure, Everett.” She answered sincerely. She paused while she shut down her medical equipment. Prodded by his thanks, she remembered what he’d said during his brief moment of consciousness when he’d started to breathe on his own. “I was wondering, do you know how to speak our language?”

“No; a few others, but not Xhosa.” He vaguely remembered the dream. “I plan on learning it, though.”

“Great! We’ll help you.” She smiled, “I think you’ll pick it up pretty quickly”.

**Author's Note:**

> Just discovered this great nugget of a deleted scene on YouTube. Everett/T’Challa friendship. Enjoy!  
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jsOun4fQ0PM


End file.
